We booked the sleeper bus for a return journey from Wellington to Auckland and back.

Three weeks before the journey we got an email saying that the sleeper would not be ready for the Wellington to Auckland trip and so we decided that we would fly as we had no interest in traveling such a long journey on a seated bus. The customer service person assured me that the Auckland to Wellington sleeper service would definitely be running as scheduled on Saturday night. At 1pm on Saturday we received an email saying that the sleeper for tonight will not be available and will be replaced by a normal seated bus. They said as compensation they would give us two vouchers for naked bus. I replied to their email and said this is not adequate compensation as some of our travel companions get motion sickness on seated busses. They did not reply to my email and they still have not replied. As we were cutting it too close we decided to just take it on the chin and take the seated bus. Upon arrival we were told that the toilet onboard doesn't work and there will be toilet stops and the onboard toilet was only for emergencies and number ones as it won't flush. After switching drivers in Turangi our driver was extremely tired and was told on occasions that he we driving on the wrong side of the road as he fell asleep. When we reached Palmerston north we decided we were not going to risk it any longer, especially as one of the front seat belts was not working. We told the driver we were getting off and that he should rest. We also asked if the company would send him out another driver if he was unable to drive and he said "sometimes". We got off at 5.30am and stayed in Palmerston north until we could catch an intercity bus back to Wellington at 11.30.

Also note that if you need to speak with a customer services representative you will have to fork out $1.99 per minute.

I hope this gives you an idea of naked bus' service.

I think it is poorly managed and can be unsafe to travel on.

Reviewed over 9 years ago